


A Lost Life, A Ghost Born

by AgentMaryMargaretSkitz



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Marvel Cinematic Universe Fusion, Amputation, Angst, M/M, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 14:12:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18994219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentMaryMargaretSkitz/pseuds/AgentMaryMargaretSkitz
Summary: Barry Allen just wanted Cisco Ramon to be safe. He was never concerned with his own well-being when Cisco was there.(The Barrisco Winter Soldier AU no one asked for)





	A Lost Life, A Ghost Born

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fezwearingjellybananas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fezwearingjellybananas/gifts).



> Happy Birthday, fezwearingjellybananas!
> 
> I went back and forth on this for a while, and I'm sorry it took so long for me to think this up. Hope you enjoy!

               By the time Barry Allen made it to the movies, the doors were already shut. Cisco was probably already inside without him. They were supposed to have gone together earlier, but Cisco had tried to go enlist again and he’d had to start packing after getting his orders to ship out. Barry was ready as he could be to ship off. He wasn’t ready to break the news to Cisco though.

“I can do this all day,” Barry heard as he walked outside to wait, followed by a clatter.

Barry made his way to the alley by the theater just in time to see a man kicking Cisco around by the trash cans. A lid was lying next to him.

“Hey,” Barry shouted. “Go pick on someone your own size!”

The guy didn’t bug off right away. Soon, he and Cisco were both limping away from the alley.

“How did you get in the army and I didn’t?” Cisco coughed once they were far enough away.

“Asthma, heart murmur, do you want me to keep going? You know, sometimes I wonder if you like getting punched.”

“He wouldn’t shut up in the theater. Besides, I was hanging in there before you showed up.”

“Uh-huh,” Barry nodded. “Hey, did they take you this time?”

Cisco reached into his pocket and passed him a slip of paper. Barry unfolded it to see 4F printed on it.

“It’s illegal to lie on your enlistment form, Cisco. And Hub City?”

“Hey, I had to think of something,” Cisco looked him up and down. “You’re in your uniform.”

He nodded.

“You look great. Did your orders come through?”

“107th. Sergeant Bartholomew Allen. They ship me out to England first thing tomorrow.”

“We were supposed to go together,” Cisco lamented, wiping the blood from his nose. “Now we’re going to be separated by an ocean.”

“Hey, I’m going to make it back or you’ll find a way to me,” Barry reassured him. “Together ‘til the end of the line. Right now, I want to have a great night with my best guy.”

Cisco grinned. “You know, there’s the expo tonight. Osgood Rathaway is presenting some stuff.”

“Perfect.”

* * *

 

Barry just wanted one last night out with his boyfriend, but nope. Cisco had to sneak off while he was being wowed by a flying car. By the time Barry found him, he was getting in line.

Barry pulled him out. “Come on, you’ve already been through this.”

“Not here. I can try my luck.”

“As who? Francisco from Zenith? If they find out, they’ll throw you in jail. Or actually take you and ship you off overseas. You could get killed.”

“And so could you.”

“There’s still jobs here that you can take for the war effort. You’re safer with that.”

“Men are laying down their lives over there,” Cisco told him. “I want to be able to do as much as they can. We always wanted to stop bullies when we were in school, now is the chance to do that. And I’m not going to sit back while you risk your life.”

Barry sighed. “I really can’t talk you out of this, can I?”

“I think you know the answer to that one,” Cisco smiled. “Look, go home and sleep. Get ready for tomorrow. I’ll follow you soon.”

Barry wrapped his arms around Cisco. Everyone else assumed it was two buddies saying goodbye and not two lovers. “Don’t do anything too stupid in the meantime.”

“As long as you don’t do anything stupid until I get over there,” Cisco laughed. “And don’t win the war until I get there.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

 

               Europe was blood, sweat, mud, and hell. Barry was almost glad that Cisco wasn’t here with him, but he missed his boyfriend more than anything. The 107th was fighting Hydra, the Nazi science division. One day there was a bad attack, and everyone was scattering. Barry had tried to free a fellow soldier when they were surrounded by Hydra stormtroopers. He thought they would be killed, but a much worse fate awaited them.

               With the other captured soldiers, Barry was marched to a munition factory. There, he was put to work making weapons for Germans for hours each day. When he wasn’t working, he was crammed in a cell with seven others to sleep. Barry thought it couldn’t get any worse until two stormtroopers came to the cells one morning and dragged him to another part of the factory. He’d seen men get taken to this part of the building before. It had been converted to a laboratory for a Hydra scientist. Men who went to this place never came back.

Now he was another lab rat.

               The scientist conducted experiments on him. Barry knew chemistry, but he didn’t know what was being injected into him. It hurt a little, but what didn’t kill him was a little victory. All he had to do was survive and get out of here. Then it would be making it through the war, go home to Central City, and find Cisco. First, he had to get of this chair he was strapped to. But then he could do all of that.

When explosions started rocking the factory, Barry started saying his name, rank and serial number. He kept repeating it over and over, hoping someone would hear him. That someone would save him.

“Barry?” Cisco’s voice called out. But that didn’t make sense. Cisco was at home. Then again, he was also leaning over Barry now, a sort of shield strapped to his back.

“Allen, Bartholomew Henry,” he murmured again when the straps on his wrists and ankles were ripped off.

That wasn’t supposed to happen. Barry frowned and looked up again. “Cisco?”

“Yeah,” Cisco grinned as he pulled him up. “Told you I’d get over here. I was so scared you were dead.”

“You’re supposed to be at home. Why are you here?”

“I joined the Army’s test project. I’ll tell you more later, but right now we have to run. Can you stand?”

Barry nodded, but he felt wobbly.

“Just lean on me for now, I’ve got you,” Cisco promised. “I’m a lot stronger now than I used to be.”

               Apprehensively, Barry did as he was told and found Cisco was right. They limped out into the hallway together as Barry’s muscles began to remember what to do again. Down the hall, a Hydra trooper spotted them and raised his gun. Cisco threw up a hand and a pulse shot out at the soldier, sending him flying into the wall.

Barry gaped. “You couldn’t do that before.”

“Side effect of Project Rebirth,” Cisco explained as they kept running. “They gave me a serum that made me stronger and faster, but somehow I can do that too.”

“What they did to you…did you agree on your own? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“Barry, I made the choice on my own. No one forced me. But the procedure hurt a little. And it seems permanent.”

Barry laughed, his dry lips splitting a little. “That pulse thing is cool.”

“Osgood thinks so too. But I do keep having weird dreams. We’re still trying to figure that one out.”

               They were making it up the stairs to get to the roof when more explosions shook the factory floor. Barry couldn’t help but throw his arm out in front of Cisco on impulse as the flames surged upwards from a bomb. They kept running until they made it to the top, where the scientist and a Hydra officer were waiting for them. From the conversation Cisco had with them, it sounded like the officer had been given the same serum as him, except this one burned his face off.

“You still have your face, right?” Barry asked as the walkway was separated by the scientist, cutting off their escape. “Not that I’d love you any less.”

Cisco nodded his head as the fire below caused another bomb to go off. “We need to leave before this whole place goes up. Get across that rafter.”

 “Okay.”

One try was all he had on this thing. He couldn’t mess it up.

Barry climbed along the rafter carefully. His foot nearly slipped once, but he managed to haul himself over to safety.  As soon as he did, the rafter loosened and tumbled into the flames below. Looking back, he saw Cisco staring down below at the bombs. With the rafter gone, there wasn’t much else that could be used to get across.

“Is there a rope or something on your-”

“Barry, run!” Cisco shouted. “Just go!”

“No!” Barry shook his head. “I won’t leave you!”

“I’m going to try and jump. Get ready!”

Cisco backed up as far as he could, then ran to the edge and jumped. Flame surged up as he soared through the air. Barry’s heart felt like it was in his mouth until Cisco landed on the other side.

“You made it,” Barry grinned as they hurried to the rooftop exit as the rest of the bombs went off. “I could kiss you right now.”

“You’d be getting a mouthful of dirt and soot,” Cisco laughed.

“I don’t mind.”

Once they were on the ground, Barry made good on that kiss. He did taste ashy, but it was Cisco. He didn’t care.

They were together again.

* * *

 

               With the rest of the captured soldiers, Cisco and Barry made it back to the 107th current outpost. The return was greatly celebrated by the soldiers and officers there, who had not expected to see the men return alive. Cisco was being regarded as a hero for his actions. They tried to get him to go home to receive a medal, but he was staying put in Europe with the SSR and putting together a special operations unit to take down Hydra.

Barry was proud. “You really couldn’t wait for me to get home.”

“Because I can leave you anywhere?” Cisco laughed as he sat next to him in a bar one night. “You up to join the team.”

“I will go anywhere that scrappy little dreamer from Central City goes,” Barry grinned while Cisco rolled his eyes. “Everyone else you’ve got thinks we’re so cool. When did that happen?”

“When I rescued you and people started called me Captain America. Pfft, I can come up with a great name for myself, thank you very much.”

“Like what?”

“I was thinking Vibe?”

Barry nodded. “Not bad. Maybe tell Agent Reynolds that next time you see her.”

“Maybe,” Cisco shrugged. “Hey, you know my weird dreams I told you about?”

“Uh huh.”

“I think I can see the future.”

Barry’s eyebrows shot up. “What did you see?”

“This conversation. At least part of it. I don’t know yet.”

“Well, we’ll figure it out together. We always do.”

* * *

 

               Barry liked the little group that Cisco had assembled. Rex, Henry, Charles, and Todd had in the factory with Barry and were happy to work alongside Cisco to bring down Hydra. Courtney was a new SSR agent who was determined to prove that woman could be in combat. Princess Amaya of Zambesi shared the sentiment and was a massive help to them. They all had their differences, but it created a strong bond between them. There was never judgement toward Amaya or Charles, or Barry and Cisco or Todd.

               Cisco’s powers grew more. Barry helped him learn and manage them as they developed. The pulses, or vibes, were easier to him to hone when he and Osgood made a pair of gauntlets. He could also travel in little breaches of space, but it wasn’t as easy as vibe blasts. As for the dreams, they were visions of the future. Some of them came true, but others didn’t. It helped the team prepare for attacks.

One night, Cisco woke up crying. He didn’t tell Barry why.

“Stay with me,” was all he said when Barry tried to talk to him.

Barry gripped his hand tightly. “I will. End of the line, remember?”

“End of the line.”

* * *

 

               Two days after Cisco woke up crying, the group was given a new assignment. Amaya couldn’t come, she had to deal with business of Zambesi’s role in the war. The rest of them were sent to the Alps to stop a train. Onboard was Hydra’s scientist, the same one who had experimented on Barry. The train was running at top speed, so they must have needed him bad.

Cisco looked sick as he headed towards the line they were going down to reach the railroad. Barry put a hand on his arm.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I don’t know,” Cisco swallowed. “But we have a job to do.”

They all went down the line onto the train. When they landed, Barry climbed down the ladder after Cisco to get to the cars. When they got inside, they got too far apart scoping each compartment and got split up. Barry was cornered by two soldiers and stuck in a gunfight. He took out one, but ran out of ammo before Cisco arrived and got the other.

“I almost had him.”

“I know.”

Something charged behind them. Cisco turned around, shield up. “Get down!”

               A hole was blasted into the side of the train, exposing the snowy expanse below. Cisco was lying by the other wall. Barry grabbed his gun and the shield and started firing at the new Hydra soldier. The soldier blasted his weapon at Barry again, hitting the shield and sending him flying back towards the opening.

He was lucky his hands grabbed the railing before he could fall into the abyss below.

Metal creaked when he tried to shift over. Maybe not so lucky.

“BARRY!”

Cisco was climbing out towards him, eyes widened with fear. “Hang on, Barry!”

Barry shifted his hands over as best he could.

“Grab my hand!” Cisco shouted over the wind. “Barry, grab my hand!”

Barry stretched his hand out.

The metal bar snapped away from the car.

Cisco screamed.

Barry was falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Blackness.

* * *

 

Snow fell around him. Soldiers were carrying him away. They weren’t America uniforms, nor British or German. They looked Russian.

His left arm was hurting. Barry glanced over, his eyes stopping when he saw it ending in a stub below his elbow. Or what used to be his elbow.

He passed out.

* * *

 

_“The procedure has already started._ ”

Surgeons hovered around him. The stub of his arm was getting smaller. His brain felt foggy. Who was he?

_“You are to be the new fist of Hydra.”_

A new arm now. Bright and silver and shiny. It worked like a normal flesh and blood one, fingers bending on command. It shot out and grabbed a surgeon by the neck, slowly squeezing the life out.

A sharp stab to the chest. The familiar face of the scientist smiling at him.

_“Put him on ice.”_

A cold chamber. He could barely see out the little window. As he tried to reach a hand out, the world froze.

* * *

 

Wake up. The command code. Target assignment given. Mission executed. Wipe. Sleep.

Wake up. The command code. Target assignment given. Mission executed. Wipe. Sleep.

Wake up. The command code. Target assignment given. Mission executed. Wipe. Sleep.

Wake up. The command code. Target assignment given. Mission executed. Wipe. Sleep.

Wake up. The command code. Target assignment given. Mission executed. Wipe. Sleep.

Wake up. The command code. A young woman with brown hair from the Red Room. Train her. Training completed. Wipe. Sleep.

Wake up. The command code. Target assignment given. Mission executed. Wipe. Sleep.

Wake up. The command code. Target assignment given. Riding a motorcycle behind a car. Shooting out its tires. Watching it crash into a tree.

“Save my wife. Please. Help her,” came the plea from the old man crawling away from the car.

His expression changed when he saw him. “Sergeant Allen?”

The name was familiar. He didn’t know it as he drove his metal fist into the man’s face repeatedly until he was dead.

“Osgood,” a woman wailed before he squeezed the life out of her and went to reclaim the objective from the trunk.

Mission executed. New task. Train the new soldiers. Protect the commander. Wipe. Sleep.

Wake up. The command code. Target assignment given. Mission executed. Wipe. Sleep.

Wake up. The command code. Target assignment given. Mission executed. Wipe. Sleep.

Wake up. The command code. Target assignment given.

* * *

 

               They had told him the target would be driven his way and he’d know it as soon as he saw it. The car riddled with bullet holes spoke for itself. The soldier shot the bomb disk at the car. He stepped out of the way as it exploded, the car flipped, and slowly skidded past him. Déjà vu struck him when he walked to the car, but he didn’t know why. As he ripped the door off, he found no one inside the car.

The mission was not yet completed.

               He tracked the target to an apartment and took up a sniper spot from across the street. He couldn’t see where the target was inside the dark window. So he waited and waited until a light flipped on and gave him a visual. Then he squeezed the trigger. The deed was done, time to return.

Except he had a tail.

               As he was about to leap off a rooftop, he heard something coming towards him. Turning quickly, he caught the shield with his metal hand. On the other side of the roof was a man with black hair. There was a stunned look in his eyes as he looked at the shield in his grasp.

The soldier flung it back at him as a soft voice spoke in the back of his head.

_“End of the line.”_

No, he had no memories. He was a ghost.

He jumped off the roof to the street below.

Ghosts can’t have memories.

**Author's Note:**

> (There is a possibility I might write more)
> 
> Kudos and reviews are awesome!


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